A little over two months ago we got the news that no one wanted to get. Alex Stricklin, our pastor’s 14 year old daughter, had gone to heaven. She had fought, with extraordinary grace, a long battle with Children’s Pulmonary Hypertension (CPH). The Lord called her home to enjoy her reward. I had the chance to write about it before. You can read that post here.
This is still a crushing ongoing ordeal for the family. Through it all, they give testimony of God’s incredible grace for facing every day.
I want to give testimony of different ways God is getting glory in this. It is only possible because this family has decided to keep worshiping Him through all of this.
The day of the memorial service, something truly amazing took place. I dare to say that what we saw that day is impossible apart from the grace of God. Even though they were hurting, even though they did not have all the answers that their pain demanded (they still don’t, there is still so much to be done in CPH research), the family decided to honor all of the medical staff that had assisted them with Alex over the years. One by one, those doctors and nurses, were called by name and honored. The Stricklins thanked them for all they had done over the years. Truly amazing! Who do you think got the glory in that moment? God did! Only He could have given the Stricklins the grace and generosity to do it.
That day the world also found out about Alexandria’s Foundation. This is and will be a passionate effort to raise the awareness and finances necessary to advance the research of CPH. Even though it still is in the initial stages of its legal recognition as a de facto charity, some important steps have already been taken. Find out more by visiting the foundation’s website.
If you think that this post is out of place in a missions blog, please bear with me. I think there are lessons to learn here with real implications in our walk with God. We are to bring glory to God wherever we are, wherever He sends us, and whatever happens. We are not excused from glorifying our Maker because the plan we have put together for our life does not play out exactly as expected. It is possible to continue to be used of Him, even when everything in us demands that we quit. When the world expects us to shut down, we can still bring glory to Him!
I believe Alexandria’s Foundation will be used of God to continue to bring glory to Him. I urge you to get connected with this effort. You can do this in different ways:
- Visit cphawareness.org to get the whole story. It will inspire and move you. While there, please take a few seconds and subscribe for the email updates.
- Visite the foundation’s Facebook Page, and make sure to “like” it.
I am always amazed at the generosity of those that read our posts. I am humbled by the time you give us and by the good comments we get. Thank you for supporting us in wanting to glorify God in the country of Portugal.